Social Security Recipients Get 1st Look At New Checks

WASHINGTON — A new breed of lightweight government checks printed on pastel-shaded paper and bearing the image of ``Lady Liberty`` will be introduced today to 20 million Social Security recipients.

The new checks have a wealth of advantages both for the 115 million Americans who will receive government payments and for the rest of America`s taxpayers, according to the Treasury Department, which has been planning the switch for several years.

Social Security checks, 240 million of which are issued a year, are the first to be converted from the old heavier punch-card design, which the government has been issuing for 40 years. Next in line for conversion will be the 1985 tax refund checks, starting in February. The new checks will be phased in for all other government payments -- 600 million checks a year, including veterans` benefits and federal workers` paychecks, by April.

The checks, say Treasury Department officials, are more difficult to counterfeit or alter because they have more than a dozen new security features, including the appearance of the hidden word ``void`` if the check is photocopied.

The lighter paper -- much like the personal checks used by most Americans -- costs about one-third less than the heavier card-stock and as a result, storage costs also will drop, by about 30 percent, the Treasury Department says.

The government expects the conversion will save taxpayers $6 million a year. The one-time investment to convert to the new checks was $5 million.

Treasury Secretary James Baker, in introducing the checks during a news conference last month, noted that the punch-card technology is ``no longer consistent with modern banking practices.``

To make sure no one doubts the authenticity of the new checks, which are multi-colored ranging from light blue to pale peach and carry the image of the Statue of Liberty, the Treasury Department has launched a publicity campaign whose mainstay are posters of Uncle Sam holding the new checks.